Tag Archives: Daisuke Matsuzaka

The New York Mets should cut Matt Harvey’s innings at 178.1, exactly what it is today after several media outlets reported a MRI revealed a partially torn partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

HARVEY: Special season crashing.

I wrote Sunday the Mets needed to devise a definitive plan to reduce his innings, and that plan should now be to shut him down for the remainder of the season. Let’s not assume rest will take care of everything.

Now, comes the questions, and, yes finger pointing.

Did Terry Collins overuse Harvey at the start of the season? Did the plan to implement Harvey’s inning cap come too late, and why didn’t they learn from Washington’s Stephen Strasburg the best plan is to have one at the start of the season?

And, is it not a matter of capping innings, but pitches? Do the Mets even have a definitive plan to protect their young pitchers?

Was Harvey hurting and didn’t inform the medical staff? He said he had he had been dealing with forearm discomfort, but was he forthcoming enough? Did he hold back? Did the Mets know and continued to run him out there in hope for the best?

So many question, and here’s another: Is this just part of pitching, with nobody to blame but fate?

If Tommy John surgery remains on the table, he could miss most, if not all, the 2014 season. So much for making a playoff run next year. If surgery is performed, will it be sooner than later, as to get an idea of Harvey’s return timetable?

Whatever the decision on surgery, it won’t be for at least until after his two-week duration on the disabled list until the swelling goes down. Following that there will be another MRI, perhaps some rehab, and then possibly surgery.

If the Mets are inclined to delay their run at respectability until 2015, how will this impact their 2014 offseason plans? Will they re-sign Daisuke Matsuzaka? Will they go the route of trying to sign an established starter for next year or go patchwork? How will the Mets respond now with Zack Wheeler?

Excluding Johan Santana during spring training, Harvey, who was placed on the disabled list, is the fourth Mets’ starter to sustain a significant arm injury this year. Jonathan Niese underwent shoulder surgery to repair a partial tear in his shoulder. Jeremy Hefner is contemplating a second opinion on surgery, and Jenrry Mejia will undergo surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow.

Harvey had a MRI today after complaining of fatigue and pain in his elbow after a grueling 102-pitch effort Saturday against Detroit. He will finish the year at 9-5 with a 2.27 ERA. After a 5-0 start, so much more was expected.

General manager Sandy Alderson said the injury is an accumulative result as opposed to one specific game. “This is not good news, obviously,’’ he said. “This is not a career-ending injury under any stretch of the imagination. We’re fortunate we have a lot of pitching depth in our organization.’’

Yeah, but are any of them as good as Harvey?

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Falling under the category of “somebody has to do it,’’ the New York Mets will throw out Daisuke Matsuzaka to start tonight against Detroit.

The 32-year-old Matsuzaka, who never came close to living up to expectations when Boston outbid the Mets for him in 2006, is now a retread hanging on to his career.

Maybe, just maybe, if he shows something the final month of the season the Mets will bring him to spring training. That’s a peak into the future, but personally I’d rather see prospect Rafael Montero, who, like Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler has an innings cap.

Montero isn’t done, yet, this season, but I’m intrigued about seeing what he could have against the Tigers tonight at Citi Field, rather than against Detroit in Port St. Lucie in spring training. Even if it is for just one start, I’d like to see Montero, just to give us another glimpse into the future.

It won’t happen because of 40-man roster considerations.

With the Mets still mired nine games under .500, second place and a winning season appear to be slipping away, making the last month a spring training preview. In addition to Harvey and Wheeler, we’re getting to see Travis d’Arnaud, Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores.

They haven’t disappointed; they have us anxious about the future, which is closer than we might have originally thought.

The rosters can be expanded Sept. 1, but I’d like to see some creative thinking and for the one weekend of the month have Major League Baseball waive the 40-man roster listing and enable teams not in the running to have a prospect promotion.

Bring up guys such as Matt den Dekker, Montero and Noah Syndergaard and let the Mets have their own Futures Weekend. Wouldn’t you rather see that as one of the games of the Sept. 14 doubleheader against Miami rather than guys such as Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis or Robert Carson?

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated and I will attempt to answer them. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

There are a myriad of issues surrounding Carlos Beltran that make him logically impossible to deal, but there reports out of Boston the Mets and Red Sox are talking.

BELTRAN: Would deal to Sox help Mets?

Undoubtedly, it is Boston’s cobra-mongoose struggle with the Yankees that has the Red Sox thinking about adding Beltran.

The Red Sox have a hole in the outfield and the designated hitter to slot in on an occasional basis (don’t forget David Ortiz will get most of those at-bats after the trade for Adrian Gonzalez).

Clearly, the Red Sox would be gambling to catch lightning in a bottle with Beltran in his walk year as worth taking the risk on the outfielder’s balky knees and $18.5 million salary.

Reportedly, the Red Sox are willing to part with Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will make $10 million in each of the next years. So essentially, the Mets would be trading a bad one-year contract for a bad two-year contract.

And, if the Mets have to eat about $8.5 million of Beltran’s contract to make the trade work, then what’s the benefit? They wouldn’t open up any payroll room because they’d still be on the hook for Beltran’s balance and Matsuzaka’s salary plus the latter’s salary for 2012.

The Mets would be trading the hope of Beltran bouncing back to hoping Matsuzaka will rebound. Yes, the Mets need pitching, but would Matsuzaka really help them?

That Boston is so eager to get rid of Matsuzaka should tell you something about what the Red Sox think of his ability to turn it around.

The one thing certain about the Mets and Beltran is this will be their last season together. Clearly, the Mets want to clear the books and think ahead to 2012. Beltran is not enamored with the organization for how it handled his knee problems and is seeking one more payday.

The Mets would like to trade Beltran, but their best hope for a good return will be if he gets off to a good start and stays healthy and they are able to swing something at the deadline.

Hope. That’s the best word to describe the Mets’ immediate prospects for 2011.

The word out of Boston has the Red Sox listening to offers for Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom will be owed $28 million over the next three season and can become a free agent after the 2012 season.

Matsuzaka was apparently worth the money in the first two years with Boston, going 33–15 with a 3.72 ERA in 61 starts, but has missed most of this year with fatigue in his right shoulder.

DICE-K: Just say no.

The Red Sox won the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka in 2006 with a winning bid of $51.1 million, with the Mets a distant second at $40 million. The Mets were lucky they were outbid at the time otherwise they’d be facing yet another horrible contract.

Undoubtedly, the Sox will reach out to the Mets this winter, but they should quickly change the subject.